Mysterious Shadow
Mysterious Shadow is the first episode of the ''Cybersix'' animated television series. The episode's title and plot is based loosely on the first weekly issue of the comic series. Episode synopsis Two Fixed Ideas kidnap two men from the Meridiana State Treasury, the Printer and Engraver. They bring them to the dock yard of Meridiana into an abandoned warehouse. Cybersix witnesses this kidnapping but is unable to do anything. The next morning, the Meridiana High School principal introduces the new literature teacher to the school. As they walk past Lucas Amato's biology class, Lucas and Adrian Seidelman see each other, and they continue on their way. On the first day of the job Adrian reads aloud a passage from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", a love-struck Lori Anderson interrupts him when she hands him a love note professing her love. Once immediately rejected, Lori's Gang of friends decides to get back at him. After school they follow Adrian through the city and corner him in an alley. But before anything can happen, Lucas appears and scares away the delinquents. The two teachers get acquainted over a cup of coffee at Meridiana's Café, where Adrian asks for some help with his problem student, as well as revealing that he came from a small fishing village. Things are good until Adrian spots the headlines of their local newspaper of the missing Printer and Engraver. Adrian abruptly leaves, thanking Lucas for the coffee. It is now late at night as Lucas walks alone through the streets. A large man, a frightened Fixed Idea, breaks through a set of boarded doors onto the street. Startled, Lucas spots a woman leaping on top of buildings. Curious, he follows her, and after taking a shortcut by jumping into a chicken coop, Lucas finds the man and woman on the bridge. Cybersix had attacked the Fixed Idea. Lucas tries to approach her but she jumps out of sight. The Fixed Idea evaporates, revealing a glowing green vial of Sustenance. Lucas takes the mysterious liquid and leaves. Cybersix watches him from above, once the pain in her left arm subsides, she spots a Fixed Idea following Lucas. She follows him back to his apartment, where Lucas attempts to examine the contents of the vial only to discover its acid. Cybersix appears in his window, asking for the vial back and trying to warn him of the danger he's in. Lucas avoids her request, rather, he asks her how she got up there, then asks her if she's hurt when she's in pain from her arm. At that moment a Fixed Idea bursts into the apartment and charges towards Cybersix, pushing Lucas aside to get to her. He reveals that he's angry that Cybersix killed his brother and is thus out for revenge. But before he can do so, Lucas lunges at the man to help Cybersix, and the both fall out the window. Cybersix is able to save Lucas. She and the Fixed Idea fall down. She survives while the Fixed Idea died on impact. She takes the vial left behind and drinks from it and the pain in her arm finally disappears. Sometime later that night a Techno comes by the remains of the same Fixed Idea. He looks up at Lucas's apartment, noting that something must've happened between the Fixed Idea and the resident of the apartment with the broken window. The printer and engraver are shown to have been taken hostage in order to make money. The man behind this plan is Doctor Von Reichter, who sits in his laboratory in a remote unknown location. The Techno communicates with him over a computer screen. He confirms everything's going as planned but he has found a Fixed Idea "deactivated" with an empty vial. Von Reichter decides to send his son, Jose, to investigate. The Techno believes he may know who it is, but upon Jose's arrival he mistakens a Fixed Idea for Jose. Lucas and Adrian are at the Cafe once again. Lucas tells of the amazing events he has witnessed but Adrian is unwilling to believe, saying it was all just a dream. Unable to convince him Lucas takes out the vial for proof but Adrian suddenly becomes cautious and tells him to put it away. He then gets up and leaves again. Confused, Lucas chases Adrian, but having first pay their bill and taking some food. Jose arrives in Meridiana, the Techno takes him to the suspected apartment and they trash the place, they then leave just before Adrian and Lucas arrive. They find the apartment in a mess. Adrian tells Lucas to give the woman the vial next time, and he runs off. Adrian returns to his apartment, feeling guilt that Lucas was put in danger because of him. It is revealed that Adrian is Cybersix. She says she isn't human and doesn't need any friends, but she vows to help Lucas in return for helping her. She changes out of her daytime attire and into her Cybersix suit and leaps off into the city to help Lucas. Jose and his henchmen guard Lucas' apartment and upon seeing Cybersix break through the boarded up windows, they break into the apartment. Cybersix asks Lucas for the vial and he finally gives it to her. When Jose and his henchmen break down the door Cybersix reveals a "Cyber 6" tattoo on her right arm. Jose finds out that it was a Cyber behind it all this whole time. He orders his henchmen to get her, but she gets away. Lucas has been nearly knocked out by one of them, he overhears Jose ordering the Techno to stay with the Fixed Ideas so they don't lose Cybersix, while he returns to the warehouse. Lucas soon gets up and attempts to find the warehouse. Cybersix is able to lose her pursuers. The Techno is last seen exclaiming his frustration with the Fixed Ideas. Cybersix sneaks into the warehouse and frees the Printer and Engraver. While the Fixed Ideas fight Cybersix, Jose finishes loading up the truck with the money and escapes. The building explodes and Cybersix successfully escapes. Lucas spots the explosion so he drives towards it, he almost hits Jose's truck which was coming from the opposite direction. Both swerve to avoid a collision. Jose lands in the water, losing the truck and the money along with it. Lucas swerved next to a building, though not serious he's still dazed. Cybersix checks up on him, Lucas asks her questions but she doesn't answer any, she only gives a smile before leaping away out of sight. Von Reichter is given the news of his failed plans, foiled by Cybersix. He cannot believe his most profound failure is still alive. Cybersix declares that he can come after her but she won't run. Differences with the comic *The animated series has Adrian as the new teacher while in the comics, Lucas is the recently hired teacher. *It's suggested that Adrian recently moved from a small village while the comics had him live in Meridiana for the majority of his life. *Lori had nothing to do with her gang bullying Adrian while the comics had her instigate the confrontation and watches nearby. *The gang run away at the sight of Lucas while the comics had them running at the sight of a police cruiser approaching. *Lucas simply smirks confidently at the gang while the comics had him beat them up. *Lucas was ignorant of Cybersix's existence, as she had only moved to Meridiana, but the comics had her live there for quite some time and was noticed by Lucas. Lucas keeps her a secret until he confides in Adrian about the matter. *The Fixed Ideas, Technos, Von Reichter, or Jose aren't introduced until later. *Cybersix drinks Sustenance from a vial while in the comics, she bites and sucks it from their neck like a vampire. *Cybersix experiences pain in her arm when suffering from withdrawal from Sustenance, unlike the comics where she becomes tired. Trivia *It's possible that the Printer and the Engraver both worked at the Meridiana State Treasurey. If so, the red car shown could be the other man's vehicle. **The building misspells "Treasury" as "Treasurey." *Adrian Seidelman briefly mentions he lived in a small fishing village, which is where Cybersix lived for a time with her father in the comics. *The newspaper headline misspells "Engraver" as "Engravr". *Lucas is seen driving a Fiat 500, this is possibly a reference to Lupin the Third, another cartoon TMS had worked on. **The car makes its only appearance in this episode, presumably because it was damaged in the crash and Lucas was unable to afford a repair. **The car license plate reads "CV6". It's possibly an error and was meant to read "CB6" as a reference to the character, Cybersix. *This is the only episode where Adrian is seen wearing his blue jacket. *We are never given the Printer and Engraver's names. *The first and last episodes are the only ones to mention Cybersix's withdrawal from Sustenance. *Some scenes are taken straight from the TMS Sample. **There is an alternate version to Cybersix and Lucas meeting in his apartment in the TMS Sample that can be seen in the Ending Theme on the bottom side. *This episode has a lot of shadow imagery, from Cybersix, Von Reichter and José's first appearance having their faces obscured by shadows to a prominent amount of silhouettes. This alludes to the episode's title and theme. *Cybersix's name is only revealed halfway through the episode at the 15:51 minute mark when she reveals her "Cyber 6" tattoo. The first time her name is actually said out loud is when Von Reichter discovers who the renegade Cyber is, at the end of the episode at the 22:44 minute mark. *This episode's ending credits misspells animator Tadashi Matsuzaki's name as "Tadashi Matsukai". Quotes References See also *List of Episodes (animated) Gallery Category:Animated Series Category:Episodes (animated series)